Steve Jordan on Downtown Kingston's inaugural RoadTrip Music Festival

Podcast episode 94
On September 12, 2026, Downtown Kingston will host the inaugural RoadTrip Music Festival. Its unconventional lineup warps the festival paradigm by mixing up musical styles and by blending local acts with touring acts from as far away as L.A. RoadTrip promises a refreshing, inclusive festival experience for residents and visitors alike, thanks to the vision of musical tastemakers Virginia Clark and Steve Jordan. In this episode, Steve Jordan joins Rob in studio to discuss his Kingston roots, founding the Polaris Music Prize, and why he thinks RoadTrip Music Festival is something you'll not want to miss.

Chapters:
00:00:00 - Episode overview
00:02:42 - Steve Jordan's Kingston roots
00:06:05 - From Kingston to the Polaris Music Prize
00:11:57 - Applying the Polaris philosophy to RoadTrip Music Festival
00:17:15 - How Steve got involved with RoadTrip Music Festival
00:20:59 - Breaking the music festival paradigm
00:23:37 - Naming RoadTrip Music Festival
00:25:11 - Why you should come to RoadTrip Music Festival
00:28:05 - Architecting the experience: Virginia Clark and Flying V Productions
00:30:04 - A national music perspective meets a local perspective
00:31:30 - Steve's ethos: Treat the audience with respect
00:34:27 - Planning your RoadTrip Music Festival experience
00:37:11 - Future plans for RoadTrip Music Festival
00:38:22 - The Canadian music that's exciting Steve Jordan right now
00:41:55 - The ingredients for Kingston's musical richness
00:46:56 - Episode credits

Episode Production Credits

Guests:
Steve Jordan

Hosts:
Rob Howard [email protected]

Audio production:
SoundWise Inc. https://kingstonlive.ca/resource/1191590/view

Episode Links
RoadTrip Music Festival https://kingstonlive.ca/resource/1395303/view
Downtown Kingston https://kingstonlive.ca/downtownkingston
Flying V Productions https://kingstonlive.ca/resource/1191640/view
Kasador https://kingstonlive.ca/kasador
Tiny Horse https://kingstonlive.ca/tiny-horse
Piner https://kingstonlive.ca/piner
O Green https://kingstonlive.ca/ogreen
Kingston concerts and music festivals https://kingstonlive.ca/


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